The “Unequivocally” Divided States Of Canadian Consumers
Home prices show the divide between Canada’s haves and the have-nots… (as wealthy Chinese money floods into certain regions)…
But among average-joes, it seems pitifully low oil prices are unequivocally divisive across the nation…
Canada’s consumers are ramping up retail spending, but only those who reside in the non-energy-producing provinces. As Bloomberg reports, retail sales in Alberta, Newfoundland, and Saskatchewan fell 0.9% from a year earlier in February, while the rest of Canada saw spending rise 7.3%.
The divergence is at a record, with retail sales growth in non-energy provinces at least 8 percentage points higher than in energy provinces over the last six months, which is a reversal from the recent past: since the early 1990s, retail sales in the rest of Canada have averaged 1.6 percentage points below that of the oil-producing provinces.
We look forward to Mr.Trudeau’s policies to fix this ‘unequivocally’ unbalanced situation.
